Conventionally known are insulated wires for automobile use or electrical/electronic appliance use, which include insulators (insulation coats) made from resins derived from fossil resources (oil resources) such as polyolefin. As is well known, the fossil resources are limited resources, and disposing of products made from the fossil resources by incineration increases carbon dioxide level in the air.
Recently, biomass resources have been receiving widespread attention from the viewpoint of global environmental conservation. The biomass resources define resources of biologic origin such as plant-derived resources that are renewable in a relatively short period of time. Carbon contained in the biomass resources is derived from CO2 absorbed from the atmosphere during the process when the biomass grows to carry out photosynthesis, so that the biomass resources have the function of maintaining the balance of CO2 concentration in the air. Further, most of the biomass resources are biodegradable, so that some biomass plastic products produced from the biomass resources can be disposed of in landfills after use. In particular, using the biomass resources can reduce used amounts of the fossil resources. Thus, using the biomass resources can reduce loads to the environment.
Conventionally, attempts to produce molded parts from biodegradable resins made from the biomass resources are mainly made considering mechanical properties of the biodegradable resins while attempts to use the biodegradable resins in the field of electric wires for automobile use are seldom made (see PTL 1).